An historic change in Pennsylvania's governor's office and the campaigning leading up to Democrat Tom Wolf's victory was the focus of a political year in which a pair of Lehigh Valley legislators also saw their congressional roles rise. Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's defeat came at the end of a campaign with no real shifts in momentum. A February poll from Quinnipiac University showed Wolf thumping Corbett with a 19-point lead, an advantage that barely fluctuated until the contest's final days. The most significant tussling came in the Democratic primary, or at least until Wolf began airing his now well-known television ads showing his Jeep and his daughters....

Related "Jim Gerlach" Articles

An historic change in Pennsylvania's governor's office and the campaigning leading up to Democrat Tom Wolf's victory was the focus of a political year in which a pair of Lehigh Valley legislators also saw their congressional roles rise.
Republican Gov....

Bigger checks coming for state officialsIt's that time again, when Pennsylvania elected and appointed officials get an extra chunk of change added to their paychecks.The annual cost-of-living adjustment — based on changes in the consumer price...

Last night's election results were the stuff of sweeping gestures.
The first modern Pennsylvania governor to be denied a second term and the end of the eight-year party swaps. Republicans taking definitive control of the U.S. Senate. The GOP padding...

Congressman Matt Cartwright was well on his way Tuesday night to winning a second term over Republican Dr. David "Doc" Moylan for the 17th Congressional District, which meanders from the banks of the Delaware River to the Anthracite Region.
...

— Among congressman-elect Ryan Costello's first tasks? Figuring out his government-issued cellphone.
The Republican from West Chester had only had a couple of hours Wednesday to fiddle around with the security-laden device when Costello began detailing...

— About four years ago, a Lehigh County aquarium manufacturer found itself with a dilemma — it was becoming too successful at selling its products overseas.
That may not sound like a problem, but for EcoTech Marine's founders, the risk of not getting...

WASHINGTON — If Democrats ever hope to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, they will need to win moderate, slightly right-of-center districts like those surrounding Philadelphia.
But races in those suburbs are tilting toward Republicans as...

WOMELSDORF — Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent and two other eastern Pennsylvania lawmakers toured a Berks County temporary shelter for unaccompanied children from Central America on Tuesday and said the children are in good spirits but have...

— Questions continue to swirl around the young immigrants flooding across the border, forcing congressmen to scramble for scarce details, including information on the children's whereabouts.
On Tuesday, Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent is heading...

Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators sit on the powerful tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, which will begin its investigation of the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups at a hearing on Tuesday.
Republicans and Democrats are united...

For Rep. Charlie Dent it was just a “little gimmicky."
So the Lehigh Valley Republican, who is garnering quite the reputation as a rebel since he disagreed with party leadership over the government shutdown, refused to join in a public shaming...

Area House Republicans are yes men for Speaker John Boehner, according to a database compiled by The Washington Post.
With the House GOP seeming incapable lately of agreeing on anything, the Post's politics team looked at six fractured votes this year...

From fried chicken to fine dining, here are some fun takeaways from area federal lawmakers' end-of-the-year campaign finance reports.
Fried chicken
While there's no confirmation that campaign operatives dig into buckets of KFC while pouring over...

As state legislators toil over redesigning the congressional map, one rumor making the rounds is that U.S. Rep. Tim Holden's district could be redrawn to include Easton. Holden, a Democrat and the longest serving Pennsylvania congressman, called it a "twist.".

Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum received his third endorsement from a sitting member of Congress Thursday, announcing support from freshman lawmaker Lou Barletta.Barletta joins U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson and U.S. Rep. Tom Marino as the now trio of...

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett decided Wednesday to let the federal government run a health insurance exchange mandated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act for Pennsylvanians rather than set up a state-based site. Read The Morning Call's full story on the...

Of late, the hallways of Congress have felt less like a revered 200-year-old political institution and more like the inside of a high school with divided cliques and petty fights. But its not just how lawmakers act that mirrors something out of a CW...

Lehigh Valley Republican congressman Charlie Dent will endorse Mitt Romney for president at an event in Harrisburg Tuesday, sources confirm. Dent will make just the second Pennsylvanian to endorse the former Massachusetts governor in the 2012 presidential...

The most inside of Pennsylvania Republicans threw their support to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign this afternoon, raising serious questions on how Romney will sell himself as an outsider to Pennsylvania primary voters.Former...